twenty mules an Borax wagons

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Imagine driving twenty mules through Death Valley for 165 miles back in 1884-1888 pulling 20 tons of Borax... almost the weight a semi load. And each wagon weighing 8300 pounds empty.

He who says there is no evil has already deceived himself
The truth is the truth, sugar coated or not. Trawler II says, "Remember that."

just think about what had to happen just to keep them fed on the trail and keeping up on all the tack out there in death valley there isnt any grass there at least from what you can see from baker california

The Mules or the Mule Skinners?

In my younger days I loved watching the TV Show "Death Valley Days'" hosted by "The Old Ranger". Catch a few episodes lately on " GRIT ".

Theres are more vids about the reconstruction of the wagons ... Just think, those wagons are 4 tons apiece meaning when its all hooked together, with that water wagon, that must be close to ten tons and then a ten ton load in each wagon and thus you really are pulling 30 tons with twenty mules.

It showed them having a slight problem of having the wagons stuck in a ditch and needed help pulling them out... But the ol mule skinners might have lined them mules up and put a little more persuasion to them to get it them out back in the day, to many people would have had a fit today. LOL

There was a story a long time back I had heard that was about moving one of them big old sawmills and the fellows wanted it dragged across a large swamp, and the first day the horses and mules dragged it half way across, the second day they dragged it just a little farther and then quit ... third morning the animals got hooked up and were balking about trying to pull it...but somebody had enough of that and passed out laths with tacks in the end and when the signal was given to pull, the balky ones got the wrath of the lath across their hinders and all at once that mill started moving and didn't stop until it was all the way across the swamp, by noon. Nothing like a little motivation. Stern Smile

mmm, can we take some laths to DC Ermm

and get some team work going again? Shocked

He who says there is no evil has already deceived himself
The truth is the truth, sugar coated or not. Trawler II says, "Remember that."

Went there ,to the mines once and there was No one there watching the place, an old wagon sitting outside. northwest of Vegas about 100 tumbleweeds and a bunch of rocks. The north end of death valley is some interesting history, Scotties Castle. No relation

Allis Chalmers still exist in my mind and barns

what did they use borax for back in them days?

thanks Chaz...that was interesting! I remember the tv ads when I was a kid, but never paid that much attention to them!

I believe, in addition to the uses already mentioned, it is also used for flux in brazing and/or welding

I am still confident of this;
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27

Borax is a component of many detergents, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. It is used to make buffer solutions in biochemistry, as a fire retardant, as an anti-fungal compound, in the manufacture of fiberglass, as a flux in metallurgy, neutron-capture shields for radioactive sources, a texturing agent in cooking, as a precursor for other boron compounds, and along with its inverse, boric acid, is useful as an insecticide.

In artisanal gold mining, the borax method is sometimes used as a substitute for toxic mercury in the gold extraction process. Borax was reportedly used by gold miners in parts of the Philippines in the 1900s.^[6]

Borax was first discovered in dry lake beds in Tibet and was imported via the Silk Road to the Arabian Peninsula in the 8th Century AD.^[7] Borax first came into common use in the late 19th century when Francis Marion Smith's Pacific Coast Borax Company began to market and popularize a large variety of applications under the 20 Mule Team Borax trademark, named for the method by which borax was originally hauled out of the California and Nevada deserts in large enough quantities to make it cheap and commonly available.^[8]^[9]

Like them all, but love the "B"s.

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